With temps down into the 20’s the last couple of mornings; the kids were hunkered down in the pine needles in one of the shrubbery beds in the front yard. Each one was frosted over. I spent a couple of hundred dollars installing a dog door in the barn and where do they sleep? When I went to get the paper the only movement was to look up as I walked by got into the truck and drove off to work. On the way home I picked up a truckload of needles and added to their bed. One more truck load and I should have the whole bed nicely covered. I used shredded leaves to mulch several inches deep around all the plants before topping off with the pine needles. The leaves as they decompose will aerate the soil. Earthworms will break down and drag the nutrients into the soil as they tunnel and also leave a pathway for water to trickle down deep to the roots. Leaves will keep the soil warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. Extra leaves are taken to the garden and plowed into the soil to add organic matter. As a result I rarely need to add fertilizer. One thing I should have done while mowing the leaves up is wears a dust mask. I developed a sinus infection. In my defense my dogs ate my masks after wind blew them off of the wall in the barn, so I was out. I was also out of my sinus support supplement that I normally take when I start getting a sore throat. Since I discovered this supplement, it has really cut down on the antibiotics and steroids I used to take due to allergies.

The mice are forecasting a cold winter. I’ve had an invasion in my garage. The new Victor mouse traps have a large bait area. I put two perpendicular to the baseboards along the walls in the section I’m overwintering my plants. Mice like to run along walls, so in the dark they run over the bait and spring the trap. I’ve caught 7 in the last three days.

Want to know how important you are to your dogs? Just come home from a long day at work and arrive just a few minutes after your Mom has given each a big ole ham bone. You’ll come down to earth real quickly. No tail wag, no glance at you, no nothing.